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The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Event

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Event

Sun, 05/01/2011 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Daniel Ellsberg at the Los Angeles courthouse, 1973; Anthony Russo and Patricia Ellsberg to his right.﻿

Credit: Courtesy of AP

Join us for a free screening of clips from the POV film, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers﻿, meet Ellsberg via Skype and talk with American Documentary Executive Director Simon Kilmurry﻿.

On Sunday, May 1 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. please join WXXI for a screening of clips from The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers﻿followed by a group discussion with Daniel Ellsberg via Skype, and the American Documentary Executive Director Simon Kilmurry who will be in WXXI's studio.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers﻿, a POV film, is a comprehensive look at the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 and the resultant political firestorm that may have sealed Americans' disenchantment with the war, and which certainly sealed the fate of the Nixon administration. The film is also an intensely intimate look into the conscience of a gifted and intelligent man who National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger told his staff was "the most dangerous man in America who must be stopped at all costs" upon his leaking of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and who wrestled personally and professionally with what he came to see as the contradictions between American ideals and American power in Southeast Asia.

Simon Kilmurry (pictured above) served as chief operating officer of American Documentary for six years before assuming the role of executive director in Fall 2006. Since joining AmDoc in 1999, he has played a key role in helping to set strategic direction for the organization and implementing new initiatives, including the Diverse Voices Project, POV's co-production initiative in support of emerging filmmakers; POV's Borders, PBS' Webby Award-winning online series; and True Lives, a second-run series for independent documentaries on public television. In addition, he worked to secure pioneering partnerships with both Netflix and Docurama to expand the distribution opportunities for POV filmmakers and enhance branding for POV Previously, Simon was associate director at Teachers & Writers Collaborative, a nonprofit literary arts and education organization and publisher, where he is now a member of the board of directors. He has also served as a board member and treasurer for Elders Share the Arts and East Harlem Block Schools, and as an informal advisor and funding panel member for other organizations including the New York City Center for Arts Education, the Association for Independent Video and Filmmakers and New York State Council on the Arts. Simon attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Columbia University Business School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.

This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To make your reservation, call (585) 258-0200.

This program is made possible by a grant from American Documentary | POV, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.